Want to have some fun with your students? Celebrate Pi Day!

Pi Day is celebrated each March 14 to commemorate the mathematical constant π (pi).

There are many ways to celebrate this significant number, including baking a pie, throwing pies and discussing the importance of this complex irrational number, starting with 3.14159265358979323 . . . and continuing without a recognizable pattern all the way to infinity.

“Pi has been known for almost 4,000 years – but even if we calculated the number of the number of seconds in those 4,000 years and calculated pi to that number of places, we would still only be approximating its actual value,” says Exploratorium on the history of pi.

Because of pi’s infinite nature, it’s a fun challenge to memorize more and more digits. Some schools challenge their students to recall pi to the highest number of decimal places, rewarding the winners with special recognition.

Pi Day Classroom Activities

Here are some resources to help inspire you to incorporate Pi Day in your classroom:

●     The Official site of Pi Day: Learn about the origins of Pi Day, watch videos about pi and read about national news and events surrounding the celebration.

●     Pinterest: Envision has created a special Pinterest board to collect activities and resources all about pi and Pi Day.

●     Exploratorium: Check out the special section just for Pi Day and the online Pi Day activities scheduled on Second Life. See the section of pi-related activities to download and use in your classroom.

●     Edutopia: This educational foundation created by George Lucas has compiled some great online teaching resources all about pi.

●     YouTube: Mashable.com has previously compiled 10 YouTube Videos for Math Geeks to highlight some relevant Pi Day videos. Of course, search “Pi Day” on YouTube for 2014 Pi Day videos. My favorite: Lose Yourself in the Digits, set to a contemporary tune that students might recognize.

●     A Good Read: A History of Pi, by Peter Beckman, explores the discovery, importance and usage of pi in mathematics.

Not enough hours in the day to incorporate Pi Day into your regular lessons? Ask your students to go home and challenge their parents to recite pi to highest number of decimal places possible. Celebrate by eating pie!